After 7 decades, British nuclear veterans to receive a medal – but fight for justice goes on
Posted: 26th November 2022
NFLA media release, 25 November 2022, For immediate use
After 7 decades, British nuclear veterans to receive a medal – but fight for justice goes on
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities have welcomed the Prime Minister’s recent decision to award a medal to Britain’s nuclear test veterans, but recognise that their fight for justice goes on.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at a special ceremony held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire last Monday that a new Nuclear Test Medal will be awarded to nuclear test veterans. The ceremony was attended by veterans and their families and by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Veterans’ Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer.
The NFLA Secretary Richard Outram spoke at a conference hosted in Manchester in February this year by the campaign group Labrats International, which highlighted the terrible impact of the tests on the health of veterans and their family members and the injustice they have suffered for over seventy years.
NFLA Steering Committee Chair Councillor David Blackburn has also previously written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and to defence ministers calling on them for justice for the test veteran community.
The first of forty-five British atomic and nuclear weapons tests took place on the Montebello Islands off the North-West coast of Australia on 3 October 1952. Tests took place from 1952 until 1967 in Australia, Christmas Island (now Kiribati), Malden Island and in Nevada. Over 22,000 military personnel participated in these tests.
The award of the Nuclear Test Medal will begin in 2023 to survivors and posthumously to the family members of deceased veterans. It is a commemorative medal that can be worn by recipients.
Like Labrats, the NFLA is a partner in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and so committed to working for a nuclear weapon free world.
Councillor David Blackburn has written to Labrats International to congratulate them, the veterans and their families for their achievement, but also to pledge the NFLA’s support for their ongoing campaign to secure proper recompense from the British Government for their suffering.
Commenting, Councillor Blackburn said: “Although the award of a medal to nuclear veterans is welcome, it does not end their fight for justice. The Prime Minister’s announcement did not include a promise to pay compensation and pensions to veterans and their families for the many years of ill-health that they have suffered. Their fight goes on and the NFLA shall support them.”
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For more information please contact: Richard Outram, NFLA Secretary, by email [email protected] / mobile 07583 097793
This media release can be found on the NFLA website at https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/after-7-decades-british-nuclear-veterans-to-receive-a-medal-but-fight-for-justice-goes-on/
The Cabinet Office announcement can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuclear-test-veterans-to-receive-medal-as-event-remembers-their-service-70-years-on